Tamers Forever
by SpaceRobt
Summary: This story takes place in the world of Digimon Tamers, in the year 2018, and follows the original characters through scenes in their adult lives. I wanted to take all the weird, metaphysical potential of the original series, and imagine it in the equally weird context of present day. Focuses on hard sci-fi, character growth and relationships, life in 2018, and queer themes.
1. Part 1: DigiCon7

"And now, the panel we've all been waiting for, the reason why we're all here today - literally. It is my pleasure and my privilege to introduce the six tamers and their digimon who fought to save the world and won! Let's hear it!"

The crowd erupted with applause. The convention hall was packed. The space closest to the stage was reserved for journalists and reporters, but the audience stretched back far enough to necessitate three large screens above the stage broadcasting live images of the panelists. The images on the screens, plus a few from different camera angles, were also being livestreamed on Twitch and YouTube, for an audience of millions at home. The scene was more like a live concert than a convention panel.

"From right to left we have…" The moderator continued, pausing to build up the audience's anticipation.

"Hirokazu Shioda and Guardromon!" The audience burst into cheers again, which had to die down before the moderator could announce the next panelists.

"Kenta Kitagawa and MarineAngemon!"

It went on like this, with more applause after each pair of names.

"Ryo Akiyama and Cyberdramon!

"Jianliang Lee and Terriermon!

"Ruki Makino and Renamon!

"And finally, Takato Matsuda and Guilmon!"

The audience went wild at the last two names, screaming and whistling in an ear-splitting swell.

Most of the digimon on stage looked the same as they always had, but their tamers, now all in their twenties, couldn't be more different. Takato wore a graphic tee, faded jeans, and a couple of days worth of stubble. He had even dug up his old pair of goggles for this occasion, although he had to replace the band so that they would fit on his head. Ruki sported a suit jacket, pencil skirt, and heels. Her posture and appearance were levels above the men around her in terms of professionalism and composure. Jian wore a plain button-down, and the slumped shoulders of someone who spent all day in front of a keyboard.

"And I'm your moderator, Trendynair. Let's get this started!

"So this is a particularly exciting year for DigiCon. I think the last time we had all twelve of you here was back in 2014."

"That's right." Said Jian, leaning a little too far into his microphone. "I know we've all been pretty busy lately, but I'm glad I was able to make the time to be here."

"That actually brings us to my first question." Said the moderator. "Everyone knows the story of how all of you fought fought the D-Reaper, a malicious sapient program threatening to consume all life in both the digital world and the physical world, but that was all the way back in 2002. What have your lives been like afterwards, and what are you all up to now? Jianliang, why don't you start us off?"

"Well, In 2008, my father and I started the Information Future Organization to research the changing state of the internet and its effects on the digital world."

"That was when you were still a teenager." Trendynair cut in. "That's amazing."

"Right, well I wanted to follow in my father's footsteps, but I ended up working alongside him instead. I had to learn fast in order to catch up. I knew a little bit about programming when I first became a tamer, but since then I've had all of the original Wild Bunch to mentor me. I couldn't ask for a more brilliant group of teachers."

"Not a lot of people actually know exactly what the IFO does." Said the moderator. How would you describe your work?"

"Well, it's complicated…" Jian paused. "The IFO employs hundreds of programmers and tamers across the globe, so we're doing all kinds of work, but most of it relates to how the real world, the internet, and the digital world all interact. The digital world is created by the information and connections of computers all over the world, so the type of data we put online, and how we share and consume that data all have impacts on that plane of reality. When you also factor in the fact that entities from the digital world can manifest in the physical world, the state of the internet can have a real impact on people's safety.

"And it's more important than ever we all pay attention to these issues. When we first went to the digital world, it was actually pretty small. We wandered all over the place, and visited a bunch of different locales, but even when we got separated, we kept running into each other by pure coincidence. That should tell you something about the size of the place. But now, with how much the internet has evolved, we estimate that the digital world covers roughly three billion times the surface area of the earth."

The room was silent at that. Apparently this wasn't general knowledge for most people.

Jian shifted in his seat. "Of course, that depends on how you measure space and distance in the digital world. It's all relative, and places shift in relation to one another based on how you go about navigating them. So it's not as if we can just draw a map of the world and get a definite idea of how big it is."

"Wow, sounds like a big job." Said the moderator, finally.

"You could say that." Said Jian. "Right now I'm mostly working on the problem of digi-trolls. It's not the most creative name for them, but it's descriptive. When people post toxic content online, it creates toxic spaces and creatures in the digital world. It's not a pretty sight. We're trying to address it by both creating intelligent programs to attack the trolls themselves, and working with a number of web platforms to enforce healthier posting guidelines and content restrictions." Jian smiled. "Our motto lately has been 'just get rid of the comments section.'"

The audience laughed.

"Does that mean I have to stop shitposting so much?" Takato cut in. "Because I'm not sure if I could handle that kind of responsibility."

"I would tell you to stop shitposting even if it didn't make my job harder. Your social media is a garbage pile." Jian grinned. "But no, jokes and memes are usually fine. It's the really hateful stuff which we're most worried about."

"What about you, Terriermon?" Said Trendynair. "I know you're working on something a little easier to explain."

"Sure," Said Terriermon, "I've got a podcast called 'Monday 'Mon Time'."

Another round of cheers and whoops from the audience.

"It sounds like you've got a few fans here." Said Trendynair. "But for anyone not in the know, could you explain what it's about?"

"You bet." Said Terriermon. "I talk about all the news and culture in the world of tamers and their digimon. That's another thing that's changed a lot over the years. I want to keep people current, and find out what it's like for the next generation."

"It's very cool. I'm actually a listener myself." Said Trendynair. "As one of the first digimon to partner with a tamer, you have a lot of great insights to share."

"Moumantai." Said Terriermon. "Although it's not easy to keep up with the kids these days. You don't even need a digivice anymore. You can get an app on your phone that does the same thing. It's great for anyone who loves convenience and accessibility, but terrible for the people printing the option cards!"

Another laugh from the audience.

"And how about Shaochung and Lopmon?" Said the moderator. "We've been trying to get those two on the panel since forever. How are they doing?"

"They're college roomates now." Said Terriermon. "After all these years, they're still totally inseparable. If you're not following their Instagram, you're missing out. It's the cutest!"

"Well all right. Sounds great." Said Trendynair. "Now I think anyone who's followed the news in the past few years is aware of the work Ruki and Renamon are doing, but why don't you two go into a little more detail and talk about why it's important."

"Gladly." Said Ruki. "Renamon and I founded Integrated Law, a non-profit organization dedicated to solving the complicated legal implications of digimons' existence, and fighting to establish and protect digimon rights."

"So the two of you are lawyers."

"That's correct. People might not think of courtrooms when they think of digimon, but there's an entire world of new laws written around them in the past decade alone. When digimon first started to appear in the physical world, they had no rights whatsoever. Since they are not 'born' in the traditional sense, they were not citizens of any country. Beyond that, digimon are the first non-human sapient entities to exist. They're an entirely new category of people that existing laws were not written to accommodate."

"So what does that mean in practical terms?" Said the moderator. "Could you give us some examples?"

"Well first there's things guaranteed to ordinary citizens like voting and education." Said Ruki. "Our organization was able to establish the precedent here in Japan that digimon who appear here are granted all the rights and responsibilities of Japanese citizens. It was met with a lot of pushback at first. Not only were people against accepting digimon into their society, they were worried that digimon would take their jobs." Ruki smiled grimly. "In one sense, it's a good thing that Japan's human population is declining. Having digimon citizens has been inarguably beneficial to our economy. In a more plentiful time, we might have have turned them away.

"But it's much easier now for digimon to exist in society than it was a few years ago. You would not believe how many hoops we had to jump through in order to get Renamon into law school at the same time as me. And it would have been impossible if we hadn't called in some major favors from a few higher-up government officials. Nowadays though, digimon in Japan can pursue an education just like the rest of us."

The audience clapped and cheered at that.

"Sounds like you've done some incredible work." Said the moderator.

"It's not just us." Said Ruki. There are a lot of people working in this field, doing just as much or more. Renamon and I just happen to have the most recognizable faces."

"Still, It's unbelievable what you've managed to accomplish at your age, even for someone who finished school as early as you did. What legal challenges do you hope to take on in the future?"

"Well, there are still countless laws that need to be written or rewritten." Said Ruki. "Digimon may have full rights as citizens, but not as people. Did you know, that the company which created the Digimon video games still holds the copyright to those characters? Any digimon which appeared in one of those games has an appearance which is technically considered intellectual property, which prevents them from certain forms of media. It's a big impediment for any digimon who wants to work as an actor. And of course, digimon and humans still can't get married, and many have accessibility issues which need to be addressed due to their non-humanoid bodies.

"But one of the most interesting issues that no one has tackled yet..." Her eyes gleamed. "Is mumans and digimon who matrix evolve together."

"Well, you've certainly got my attention now. What legal issues are there with martix evolution?"

"Everything." Said Ruki. "Right now, there are only four humans in existence who can matrix evolve with their digimon while in the physical world. All of them are on this stage, by the way. But, theoretically speaking, more humans could gain this ability from certain digimon with godlike powers, or even from our own advancing technology. And as of right now, the courtrooms have no idea what to do with a matrix evolved digimon. Are they treated as one person or two? And if they are one person, than how do we deal with the sudden appearance of this individual who had previously never existed? If the digimon and the human are from different countries, than what citizenship does the ultimate form have? If a human has a driver's license, then can it apply to their matrix evolved form? And if so, do they need two photos on their ID? If a matrix evolved digimon commits a crime and then splits up, how are they prosecuted? Does the person who committed the crime technically still exist? What happens if either the human or the digimon didn't want to commit the crime, but their partner forced them? And how could you even prove a scenario like that actually happened in a court of law?"

"Those are a lot of tough questions." Said Trendynair. "I'm glad I only have to ask the easy ones. Speaking of which, Renamon, this next one's for you - and I'm sure it's a question most of the men here are dying to ask - will you marry me?"

The audience laughed and whooped. Renamon remained still and expressionless, retaining their detached air.

"Very funny." They said, although it came out harsher than they intended it to sound. Not that the moderator didn't deserve to be chastised for this childish display. Renamon didn't want to let on how much questions like that actually got under their skin.

"But really," said the moderator, pressing on, "what's going on in your love life these days? Have you hit it off with any of the admirers beating down your door, or are the rumors true that you and your tamer-"

'That's enough." Snapped Ruki. "I specifically told you that we wouldn't be answering any personal questions."

"Well you were the one who mentioned marriage." Said Trendynair. "If talking about humans and digimon getting married is on the table-"

"It isn't." Said Ruki.

"Maybe you should let Renamon speak for herself."

Renamon leaned forward - only by a few inches, but they made the motion intimidating by their sheer presence.

"You heard her."

"And don't make me say it again." Said Ruki. "By the way, when you're referring to my partner, I expect you to use their correct pronouns."

The moderator was speechless for a moment, struggling for a way to recover without making the situation boil over. After a few seconds of heated silence, he plastered a big fake smile on his face.

"Wow, you sure shut me down. Although I guess that's just the ice-cold Digimon Queen we all know and love!

"Anyway, moving on, Takato! I haven't heard very much about you lately. Got any big, secret projects in the works?

"Uhhh…" Said Takato. "Well, you can find me on all the social media. I'm pretty hilarious there. Make sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel. I haven't posted anything in a few months, but I've been meaning to get back into that."

"Uh-huh." Said the moderator. Anything exciting coming up in the future?

"Oh, right!" Said Takato. "I'm doing a meet-and-greet after this panel, so line up in front of booth 301J. Autographs are two thousand yen, and selfies are fifteen hundred."

"Fascinating. Well then, Guilmon, what about you?"

Guilmon grinned. "I'm a baker."

"That's right. I heard you started working for Takato's parents."

"Yep."

"And then the store got so popular, you had to move to a bigger location in Tokyo?"

"Uh-huh."

"And you're still working for them, making bread all day?"

"Absolutely!"

"Anything else you'd like to say to our audience today?"

"Nope!"

"There you have it, Digi-fans. I think it's time to take a quick break while our panelists stretch their legs. In the meantime, enjoy these messages from our sponsors. When we come back, we'll catch up with the rest of the panel, and discuss current trends in the world of tamers."

Renamon vanished into the crowd almost immediately, but it didn't take long for Ruki to find them again. She just had to look for the emptiest, quietest hallway in the immediate area.

Renamon stood reclining against the wall, arms crossed, characteristically still. Ruki wordlessly walked up beside them and leaned back in the same manner.

"Hey." She said. "How are you holding up?"

"I'll survive." Said Renamon.

"Listen, I'm sorry for dragging you to this thing again." Said Ruki. "I know how much you hate all the attention."

"It's fine." Said Renamon. "I agreed to be here. What about you?"

"I'm mad as hell. The one who should really apologize is the panel host. Why do guys think they can get away with treating you like a piece of meat?"

Renamon said nothing.

"God, there's nothing I hate more than horny fanboys."

Renamon dipped their head. "Truly."

The pair stood like that for a moment, staring straight ahead, stretching out the silence for as long as they dared it to last. Finally, Ruki checked her phone.

"Hey, it's starting up again soon. Want to head back?"

"No."

"Good, me neither." Said Ruki. "Want to ditch the panel, head back to our hotel room, and abuse the fuck out of our complimentary room service privileges?"

"I'd like that." Renamon turned away. "And... Thank you for sticking up for me."

"Don't mention it." Said Ruki, smiling. "It's what partners do."


	2. Part 2: Get-Together

"Okay, smile!"

The phone screen flashed, and clicked with a synthetic shutter sound. Takato accepted the small handful of coins and bills.

He handed the phone back to the con-goer, who bounced away gleefully.

"Okay, who's next?"

It was a few hours later, and the line in front of Takato's booth was just about through. Jian approached, Terriermon hanging off of his shoulders.

"Hey Takato. Where's Guilmon?"

"He wandered off." Said Takato, scrawling his name in sharpie on a Guilmon plushie he was handed. "Said he wanted to go exploring. I think I saw him off doing vape tricks for a group of fans."

Jian chuckled. "He sure makes friends fast, doesn't he?"

Takato grinned. "Yeah. That's for sure. "Hey, are we still getting everyone together for dinner like we planned? I mean, Ruki and Renamon totally disappeared. Are they still in?"

"I just texted Ruki." Said Jian. "Renamon never answers their texts. Anyway, she says they're still on board."

"Ok, cool. I'll finish up here in a few minutes. Want to help me find Guilmon, then we can all head over together?"

"Sounds good." Said Jian.

"Yep." Said Terriermon.

Just then, a whoosh of flame and a small explosion sounded from across the hall.

"Ut-oh." Said Terriermon. "Looks like you-know-who has finally showed up again."

"Isn't he banned from attending this year?" Said Takato.

"He's banned for every year. All the way up until the end of linear time." Said Terriermon.

"And every year he crashes the place anyway." Said Jian. "I actually kind of admire his dedication."

Beelzebumon stood in the center of the convention hall, throwing fireballs up in the air.

"That's right, fools! I'm the new king of this convention! I'm the greatest digimon in this stinkin' place, so start groveling!"

"You think we should go say hi?" Said Takato, as he signed a poster.

Beelzebumon kicked over a trash can, spilling its contents across the floor. Two security guards approached him, with their data-scramblers at the ready.

"He looks busy." Said Jian. "Maybe we'll catch each other later."

Later, at the restaurant, Takato, Guilmon, Jian, and Terriermon were escorted into a walled-off VIP dining room. Light sconces on the walls cast an amber glow throughout the room, which was decorated in a seamless blend of modern and traditional Japanese styles. There was even an indoor waterfall cascading down one of the walls, and into a pool of smooth stones. Ruki, Ryo, Hirokazu, and Kenta were already seated at a long table with their respective digimon partners.

"Hey guys! You're finally here." Said Hirokazu. "Did you get lost on the way or something?"

"Hey, it's Guilmon's fault we're late." Said Takato. "He decided to borrow a foam lance from a Dukemon cosplayer, and start an impromptu jousting tournament."

"And I would have won it too, if the guy I was riding hadn't dropped me."

"So what do you think of this place?" Said Kenta. "Pretty fancy, right? And we've got the whole room to ourselves tonight. Saving the world sure has some nice perks."

"I hope one of those perks is fast service." Said Takato, placing a hand on his stomach. "I forgot to eat lunch before the panel. I'm so hungry."

Guilmon mimicked the gesture. "I'm always hungry."

"Well come join us." Said Guardromon. "It's been too long since I've seen all of you. We have a lot of catching up to do."

Once everyone had taken their seats, Ruki cleared her throat.

"Now that we're all here…" She glanced at Renamon, who nodded. "Renamon and I have something we would like to say. We're-" She blushed slightly. "We're dating. Each other, I mean. Queerplatonically, of course."

Ryo frowned. "I didn't know you dated at all, Ruki. You told me you were aromantic asexual."

"Do you not know what queerplatonic means?" Ruki shot back. "It has 'platonic' right there in the name. If you can't figure it out, go google it."

Takato already had his phone out. After a few seconds, his eyebrows bunched up.

"I don't really get it." He said. "What's the point of being in a relationship if you don't do…" He gestured vaguely. "Relationship stuff?"

"It figures that Ryo and Takato wouldn't understand." Said Ruki." You two are probably the most basic straight boys I've ever met. Anyone else have questions or complaints?"

"No, of course not." Said Jian. "I think you two make a great couple. Congratulations."

"Same goes for me. Congrats!" Said Terriermon.

"Yeah, I'm really happy for you two." Said Kenta. MarineAngemon squealed in agreement.

"Hear, hear!" Said Guardromon.

"I always knew you two would end up together." Said Hirokazu.

"I guess even if I don't get it, I can still get behind it." Said Takato. "Congratulations."

"It makes perfect sense to me." Said Guilmon, smiling. "I know you how much you two must really love each other."

Cyberdramon growled. It was hard to tell whether it was a growl of approval, or a growl of disapproval, or just a plain menacing growl, but everyone seemed to take it as a positive.

"Thanks, everyone." Said Ruki. That means a lot to us. Really. The thing is though, we're trying to keep this information private, so we'd really appreciate your discretion."

"Absolutely. You can count on us." Said Jian. "But do you mind if I ask why? It's not as if you've told us anything scandalous."

"It was my decision." Said Renamon. Everyone turned to stare at them.

"People will misinterpret the nature of our relationship. They would make it into something more- salacious than it is. I am not comfortable with that."

"So anyway," said Takato, breaking the ensuing silence, "what do you mean I'm basic? I saved the world, remember?"

Guilmon's stomach growled. The sound was loud enough that everyone at the table took notice.

"Sorry." He said. "I guess I'm hungrier than I thought."

"Oh yeah?" Said Jian. "Then let me show you guys something really cool. He pulled out his phone, and tapped the screen a few times.

"Give it a minute. This takes forever to process."

Slowly, Jian's phone started to glow bright white, then in a flash, a round loaf of bread appeared on the table, surrounded by the opaque fog of a digital field.

"What the fuck? How did you do that?" Said Takato.

Guilmon picked up the loaf, then after examining it on all sides, stuffed the whole thing into his mouth.

"Mmh!" He said through the mouthful. "Iss gud!"

"Seriously," said Kenta "what was that?"

"It's actually nothing you haven't seen before." Said Jian. "I just ran a program that constructed the bread in the digital world, than created a localized wormhole to bring it into physical reality. It's the same principle as when the Wild Bunch created Grani using nothing more than lines of code and my digivice. There's a whole department at IFO that has been working on refining and implementing the process. Apparently, the hardest part was structuring the proteins so that they don't dissolve back into data as soon as you bite in."

"That's… that's maybe the coolest thing I've ever seen." Said Hirokazu.

"You have no idea." Said Jian. "It takes in incredible amount of cloud computing power now, but there are are a few promising workarounds for that in development. Once it's all lightweight enough for widespread distribution, it's going to change everything. It will completely eliminate hunger in any part of the world with a wi-fi signal. We'll be able to disrupt the agriculture industry, and turn farmland into wildlife preserves and green energy plants. And that's just the beginning. We'll be able to generate endless human tissue for medical procedures. We'll be able to buy any product online, and materialize it instantly in our own homes. We're going to blow right past 3D printing, and go straight to meta-digital manufacturing. It's going to bring us into a whole new, post-scarcity age."

"Sounds like your company is going to get a lot richer, then." Said Ruki. "Aren't you worried about the kind of prosperity gap that could cause for people who can't afford the technology?"

"That's the thing." Said Jian. "Once the technology has proven to be efficient and safe, we're going to release it totally open-source. If it's really going to change the world for the better, it has to be accessible instead of just profitable."

"A lot of people will lose their jobs."

"And they won't even need to have jobs anymore."

"And what about safety concerns?" Said Ruki. "Couldn't people use that to make guns or something? It seems irresponsible to have no restrictions at all."

"Listen, Miss Lawyer," said Terriermon, "Jian can press a button on his phone and turn my hands into rocket launchers. If you want to worry about that stuff, I think the ship has already sailed."

"Hmm. Fair point."

"There are other possibilities too." Said Jian. "Really wild stuff, like you wouldn't believe. I've heard it theorized that if we manifest a network of computers in the digital world itself, it could potentially create a new layer of reality, just like how the digital world was created by our existing network. Populate that new layer with more computers, and so on, in a pattern of infinite recursion, and you could create unlimited computing power. Enough to create a one-to-one simulation of our entire universe. It suddenly lends credibility to the crackpot theory that we're already living in a simulation."

"Oh man," said Kenta, "my head it starting to hurt just thinking about it." MarineAngemon let out a concerned coo.

"Tell me about it." Said Terriermon. "Can you believe I have to listen to this guy everyday?"

Takato turned to Guilmon. "Guilmon, I'm not basic, am I? C'mon, Ryo, back me up here."

Much later in the night, Renamon walked alone through the city. The dinner had ended well. Terriermon had told a joke that made Guilmon shoot his drink out of his nose, and almost cough up a fireball. Hirokazu had pulled out his battered deck of trading cards, and had trounced Takato in an old-fashioned digimon battle. Ryo had complained about not having anything important to do during the D-Reaper battle. Ruki had challenged him to a drinking contest, a gambit which ultimately produced no winners. Renamon had helped their partner stumble back to the hotel room, and climb into bed, and then, just before she fell asleep, she had whispered 'I love you.'

It was a good night. Renamon had gone out, intending to savor the feeling for as long as they could in the nighttime air, with nothing but the muted sounds of a sleeping city to keep them company. They stifled a yawn. It had been a long day. Perhaps it was time to turn in. They slowly circled around and headed back towards the hotel.

On the way back to their room, Renamon ran into Guilmon, who had his arm around an unfamiliar man.

"Renamoooon!" Said Guilmon, his voice a little slurred. "This is my boyfriend, Kaito."

"Oh?" Said Renamon. "I did not realize you were spoken for. When did you two meet?"

"Just now! Kaito's gonna show me what his hotel room looks like."

"Indeed." Said Renamon, narrowing their eyes skeptically. "I imagine it looks much like all the others in this building. And do you know what's going to happen after that?"

"Huh? I dunno." Said Guilmon, putting a claw to his chin. "Although if I had to guess, I would say that we're probably going to fuck each other silly."

Kaito blushed. "Yes, I think that's the plan."

"Hm. Carry on then." Said Renamon.

They turned to leave, but Renamon called out, "Wait. Guilmon, could I speak with you?"

Guilmon looked apologetically at Kaito. "Go on ahead. I'll catch up." Then to Renamon, "What's going on?"

"Nothing, I- just feel like I haven't properly thanked you yet."

"Huh?" Guilmon cocked his head. "What for?"

"For when we were separated from our partners." Said Renamon. When we were all forced to return to the digital world, and they were not able to follow."

"Ummm." Said Guilmon. "Sorry, but what did I do again?"

"You kept us going. You kept us together. You held out hope when we all wanted to give up. I never thought you had it in you to be a leader, but you proved me wrong. You were brave enough for all of us." Renamon drew an unsteady breath. "When I- When I wanted to part ways, and go on alone, you convinced me to stay. If it weren't for you, I don't know- I don't know if I would have ever gotten her back."

"Don't say that, Renamon. You wouldn't have given up, even if you were all alone." Guilmon stared at his feet, his eyes tearing up. "I wouldn't have given up on you either. No matter what happened, we were always going to get everyone back together, no matter what. I promise, we would have found a way."

Renamon smiled. "We did find a way."

Guilmon looked up, and wiped his nose.

"You know, Renamon, back then, being brave was actually the easy part. You know why?"

"Why?"

"Because," Guilmon's face split into a wide grin, "I always knew Takato would come back for us."


	3. Part 3: Terriermon

"Hey everyone! Moumantai, and welcome to Monday 'Mon Time, with me, Terriermon. A podcast that finds interesting stories in the world of tamers and their digimon. If my voice sounds a little scratchy, it's because I just got back from DigiCon. You know how it is; crowded halls, lots of phones. I think all those wi-fi signals must have given me a computer virus!

"Woof. That was actually a pretty bad joke, even by my standards. Oh well, I'll leave it in. Come to think of it, why do digimon get sick? I'll have to ask Jian.

"Anyway, I'm rambling again. My guest this week is Yuuto, a tamer you might have heard of if you're following the news in the community. Hey there, how are you doing?"

"Hey Terriermon. So glad to be here."

"So Yuuto, in addition to being a tamer, I also hear you're a bit of a maker. You had a recent project go viral, in fact."

"Well, 'viral' might be overselling it a bit. But yeah, my digivice mod got some attention."

"Now for anyone in the studio who's old and out of touch - not to name names, but I'm talking about myself - why would you want to go messing around with a perfectly good digivice? Where did you even get the thing?

"I got it used on eBay. It's actually kind of common to find them, now that most people are upgrading to smartphone apps. And usually, once a digivice is no longer linked to the digimon or the tamer it appeared for, it goes dead. I managed to get this one working again, though."

"It's kinda strange thinking of a digivice as something you tinker around with. They've always seemed to me like magical artifacts or something. Although I guess, in the end, it's just a computer with specialized software for transferring data and energy."

"Exactly. In fact, it's all about the software. That's why the smartphone apps are able to work in the first place."

"So what exactly makes your hacked digivice different from one that's factory standard, so to speak?"

"Well, each digimon has a unique identification code, and when a digivice appears, it registers that code to a special, non-writable chip. If that digimon isn't around anymore, or the chip is removed, the digivice stops working and just shows a blank screen. People have tried swapping the chips between digivices, but apparently there are security measures built into the code that prevent that kind of thing from working. But when I removed the chip, I hooked the digivice up to a software emulator, which I wrote myself, that essentially replicated the function of the chip, but with a blank identification code. Since digivices don't appear except when a digimon and tamer are partnered, they always have an identification code. Technically, my modded one shouldn't exist."

"So tell me what this thing does already!"

"It can show data on digimon it recognizes, just like any other digivice, but since it's not paired with any digimon, I can't use it for card slashing or evolution. I tried changing the identification code in my emulator to try to link it with different digimon, including my partner Kotemon, but it didn't work. I think digimon themselves must have anti-tampering measures written into their DNA. If that's true, then it means partnering with a tamer must actually change their code, at least by a little bit.

"Anyway, when I slash option cards, sometimes there will be a little flicker of something, like a weapon or item appearing in midair for a moment. Once I made a helmet appear for a few seconds, and when I tried to touch it, it jumped, like, three feet to the left. It's really weird, like I found a glitch in a video game, but it's real life."

"So what you're saying is that any bored teen can just go around messing with the fabric of reality?"

"Absolutely. Try it at home, kids!"

"Yeah, as if we need more ways the world could end. Add that to the list of meteors, solar flares, Zhuqiaomons, D-Reapers, climate change, and Y2Ks.

"Y2K?"

"Oh, wow that's right. You're just a tiny, generation-z baby. How old are you again?"

"Fourteen."

"Holey moley. It seems like tamers are getting younger all the time. Wait a minute! Jian wasn't even that old when we went on all our adventures. Oh no! This must mean I'm getting older!"

"Haha, you still look the same as always though. I wouldn't worry about it. Moumantai, right?"

"Moumantai."

"You're only a few years older than me, now that I think about it, right?"

"Eh. It depends on how you're counting. I was alive for a while before I ever appeared in the physical world. Plus, everything is changing so fast these days. It's enough to make anyone feel old."

"I actually think it's really cool that you have so many young people on the show. Not a lot of adults would take the time to give us a voice like that, you know? I appreciate it."

"Aww, thanks! I love talking to kids. Older people can be so formal sometimes. It makes me all self-conscious. Especially if they're old enough to remember the incident with the D-Reaper. It's just one of those things you know? Everyone remembers what they were doing when the fight got broadcast across the world. If they learn that I was the one out there shooting missiles and punching cosmic slime, They start acting all weird, like I'm some sorta superhero or something."

"I mean, you are kind of a superhero though. SaintGargomon is like a hundred feet tall, and ninety percent warheads."

"Oh, you flatter me. But enough of that. I hear you recently got back home from a trip to the digital world. What's the story there?"

"Well, like most of the tamers who go to the digital world nowadays, I got hired by IFO as a field explorer. Every once in a while, I get pulled out of school, get my digivice app loaded up with the newest weapons and option software, and me and Kotemon go investigate whatever weird phenomenon has got the folks in lab coats sweating bullets this week."

"Man, I know this isn't going to make me sound any younger, but you kids have it easy! You can just jump on an X-arc and travel between dimensions in seconds. The first time I traveled back to the digital world, we literally had to crawl to a portal through a hole in the dirt. And getting back was no picnic either.

"Anyway, get off my lawn. What happened next?"

"So the IFO ambassadors were receiving reports of some strange activity in the digital world. Data disappearing into thin air, locals going missing, general feelings of miasmic dread, that sort of thing. By combing through popular search terms and metadata, they correlated the phenomenon with the rise in activity of a certain conspiracy theory on Reddit. The Content Management Advisors had been trying to shut down that forum for months, but it just kept popping up under different names.

"Actually, after we we were done clearing up the issue, like, two days later, the page got shut down again, and it hasn't shown up since. I have no idea if it's because of what we did, or if it was all the CMA, or the Reddit staff just finally got their act together. We still know so little about all the ways the physical and digital worlds affect each other."

"Yeah, beats me. I'm not very good at all the metaphysical stuff."

"So Kotemon and I warped down to the center of the disturbance, and when we got there, there was just this creepy old mansion in the middle of a forest. Like, not even subtly creepy either. It had a full-on haunted house vibe. I wasn't scared, but Kotemon was shaking so bad, they were rattling their armor. So we went inside, and the door slammed shut behind us on its own. Pretty much what you'd expect at this point, right? But when we turn around to look, the door was gone, and so were all the other doors we thought we saw before we entered. So I tried to evolve Kotemon to their adult form, thinking we'll just smash down some walls, right? But when I pushed the button on my app, nothing happened. That's when I started to freak out a little.

"Then, all of a sudden, the walls started moving away from us, until we were just standing in this black, empty space. And then these… things started to appear. Really horrible things. They looked like with digimon, but some of them had no faces, and some of them looked like they were put together from spare parts of a bunch of different monsters. Some of them looked like… my parents. My brothers. Kotemon started trying to drive them back, but every time they took a swing at one, it would just dodge out of the way. And then I looked away for just a second, and Kotemon was gone. It was just me and these abominations."

"I take back what I said about kids having it easy. I would have totally lost it if any of that stuff happened to me! What did you do next? I'm on the edge of my seat, here."

"I almost lost it myself. But then I had this moment of clarity. Something was telling me that I needed to check my phone. So I ran my analyzer, and it showed me the info for a digimon called Shademon. Apparently they use illusions to confuse their foes, so I realized that we just had to try to see through them. I called out to Kotemon, and my phone screen just lit up with this beam of light that pointed me right to them. They were only a few feet away from me all along, but Shademon made it look like they vanished. And I saw that they weren't doing so well. Shademon was attacking, slashing at them with these blades made of pure darkness. I couldn't think of what to do next, so I just ran towards them.

It was a pretty dangerous move. Neither of had any way of fighting back at this point. That might have been the end of it for both of us, but when I reached Kotemon, both of our bodies started glowing, and then we matrix evolved into Crusadermon."

"You matrix evolved!? Oh man, what was it like? You have to tell me everything about it. Tellme tellme tellme!"

"Well, it was like… I dunno. Like my body was just enveloped in this bubble of warm light, and it was like I was floating, and then I realized I was the light. I would feel Kotemon there with me, with all of their strength, and loyalty, and love. I reached out to them, and then it was like I became them. Only I was still myself, and also something completely new and different from either of us. Something that had been waiting for a long time to finally be real."

"Oh man. Wow, just wow. I never get tired of hearing about that. I've got chills right now. See? My fur's gone all poofy. And so that's how you defeated Shademon?"

"Well, there wasn't just one of them, actually. There were like, fifteen or twenty. But they were only adult level. No match for an ultimate like Crusadermon."

"That's incredible. I hate to stop you there, Yuuto, but we're already halfway through the episode. And that means we've got to take a break to pay the bills.

"Do you hate waiting in line at the post office?"


	4. Part 4: Renamon

**CW: Online harassment, social dysphoria, depression, sex repulsion**

Renamon scrolled through Twitter. This was usually a bad idea. Today especially, the platform was ripe with vitriol. People were still furious over Ruki's outburst at the panel.

"Her shrill voice makes me hate my own ears"

"So people can just leave a panel in the middle with no repercussions now? How can someone so irresponsible be a lawyer"

"What the hell it was an innocent question why the hell do they keep inviting a bitch like her back to these things?"

"Apparently ONE FEMALE is one too many to engage in a civil discussion"

"Trendynair deserves an APOLOGY as well as all the loyal fans watching #fuckRukiMakino"

And those were some of the less aggressive ones. There were, of course, the usual threats of death and sexual violence.

Renamon closed the app. Then they closed their eyes, trying to empty themself of the anxiety, rage, and fear that had accumulated after only a few seconds of browsing. They sat perfectly still, focusing on each breath, and releasing the tension that had crept down their spine. Their heart rate dropped down to something slightly more manageable.

Once, Renamon had asked their partner how she put up with all of it. How she continued to flourish despite the torrent of hatred that seemed to follow her every action.

"I don't give a fuck about those people." She had said. "They are all small and scared and utterly pathetic. I faced down an all-consuming metaphysical horror before I got my first period, and all they ever do is hide behind a keyboard and type meaningless garbage. They can't hurt me. They are nothing."

Renamon wished that they could be so resolute. Despite their confident appearance, they were always worried about other people thought. Sometimes, it took all of their effort just to maintain their indifferent demeanor.

"Kudamon is ready for you now." Said a human, poking their head into the waiting room. They're in the office just down the hall on your left."

Renamon stood, and slipped the phone into a special pocket in their sleeve. When they walked into the office, they found a small, ferret-like digimon waiting for them, whose long body was coiled around an oversized bullet cartridge.

"Hello, Renamon. You can take a seat on that couch there if you'd like. My name is Kudamon; holy beast, vaccine type, and all that. I don't have a particular pronoun preference, so he, she, they; whatever you want. Can I ask what your pronouns are?"

"They/them is fine." Said Renamon. They took a seat.

"So," said Kudamon, "your last therapist told me you were looking specifically for another digimon to talk to about a few things. I can certainly understand that. There is a lot about the digimon experience that humans will never fully relate to. Could you tell me what's on your mind, if you don't mind getting started right away?"

"Indeed." Said Renamon. "I believe the term for it is 'social dysphoria'. People assume things about me due to my appearance, those assumptions are wrong, and it causes me distress."

"And when did you start to notice these feelings?"

"Not long ago. Perhaps a year. But looking back, I believe it is something that has affected me on some level since I first came to the physical world."

"It's a difficult transition for a lot of digimon." Said Kudamon.

"Yes. Up until then, I had no desire other than to fight and grow stronger, and nothing else was expected of me. The humans' world was different. Different rules, different culture, different people. It was overwhelming. I was never one for words, but it became very difficult for me to talk to anyone. I was always worried I would say or do the wrong thing, so I mostly stayed silent, and obeyed my tamer's orders. Often, I hid in the shadows to avoid notice. I became very good at making myself disappear.

"I have learned and adjusted since then, but I still feel as if there are parts of me that do not belong to this world."

"For example?"

"Gender and sexuality, most notably." Said Renamon. "Or rather, my lack thereof. Such things did not exist in the digital world. There is no point to them. We are creatures born of data, after all.

"And even so, I saw other digimon adapting to these norms, happily accepting that they were being called 'he' or 'she'. I know that some digimon even engage in sexual relations, despite the fact that we lack the conventional body parts for it. I was never that way. I have always been repelled these human labels and behaviors."

"The human world is much different nowadays." Said Kudamon. "More and more digimon and humans are coming to identify as nonbinary and asexual. But I understand what you mean. There is still very little representation out there. It must have been very isolating though, to come here in the time that you did."

"Not entirely." Said Renamon. "I had Ruki, and I later came to make more friends. Guilmon, Takato, and the others."

"And do you have supportive people in your life currently who you can talk to about these issues?"

"I am part of a few similarly-identifying communities online. Under a pseudonym, of course. And my partner fully supports me, even though, as a human, I believe there are some things she can never fully understand. She cares about me though. She was the one that noticed I was withdrawing further into myself; becoming more depressed. I wanted to act like there was nothing wrong, but she was the one who insisted I go to therapy."

"And did you agree with this?" Said Kudamon. "I mean, therapy generally isn't a good idea unless the patient is willing to participate."

"I agreed." Said Renamon. "It can be hard to talk about such- vulnerable things, but I want to get better. If not for my sake," Renamon looked away, "then for hers. I don't want her to have to worry about me."

Kudamon nodded. "That's good to hear. Although you mentioned that you use a pseudonym online. Could you explain why that is?"

Renamon paused. "I am a well-known figure. Allowing my public identity and my private life to overlap… would be complicated."

"Complicated how?"

"Well, I-" Renamon paused, then folded their arms. "It is easier to be anonymous. There is so much attention on me already. I would rather not draw any more."

"That's understandable." Said Kudamon. "I imagine being famous doesn't do any favors for your dysphoria."

"You have no idea." Said Renamon.

Kudamon said nothing, so Renamon continued.

"People see me as – well, there's no better way to phrase it – as a sex symbol. As an asexual, I couldn't imagine a more cruel irony. The amount of fan art alone is… well, let it suffice to say that that you should not google my name. It's the kind of thing that makes me want to leave earth and go back to the digital world. But then, I remember that online content comprises the very fabric of that reality..." Renamon closed their eyes, and took a deep breath. "... and you can see why I find it upsetting."

Kudamon was silent for a long moment.

"Perhaps that is too big a topic for our first session." Said Renamon. "We should talk about something else."

"If you prefer." Said Kudamon. "Let's step back a bit then, and talk more broadly about dealing with people's assumptions.

"I've heard you speak very powerfully about the legal and societal issues that digimon face today. While your status as a public figure may put you in an uncomfortable situation, it also gives you a voice and influence. Have you ever considered using this to your advantage?"

"How do you mean?"

"I mean using your public platform to talk about your own identity. I realize this would subject your private, internal life to public scrutiny, which sounds like it would be the opposite of what you want, but it would also give you more control of your own narrative."

"I'm not sure that would be appropriate." Said Renamon. "The issues I discuss publically are much larger than just myself. It would not be right to take attention away from those. My own problems are not so important."

"I don't necessarily agree." Said Kudamon. "You said yourself that there are more people like you out there. Think how much good it would do them to hear someone like you discuss your feelings openly. And instead of prioritizing the professional over the personal, maybe there's a way to use your own story to highlight the importance of your work. People will care more about the issues if they care about the people those issues affect."

"Hm. I had not considered that." Said Renamon.

"Anyway," said Kudamon, "I'm not saying you have to write a tell-all memoir or anything. And I'm not saying you have to come out with anything that doesn't feel safe or comfortable to discuss publicly. But if you think it could be helpful, you can try considering some smaller ways in which being more open might help ease the tension of people's expectations."

"Yes." Said Renamon. "I think that would be possible. Perhaps we could discuss some examples of this..."

At the end of the hour, Renamon stood.

"Thank you for your time." They said. "It was most productive."

"Of course." Said Kudamon. "And before you go, well – I hope it isn't out of place for me to say this, but I really admire all the work you've done. Especially the way you got your education when so many digimon were unable to do so. You were a real inspiration for me while I pursued my own degree. I'm grateful that there are people like you out there making a difference, and I'm sure most digimon feel the same way, especially those in professional fields."

"Oh. Thank you." Said Renamon. "I'm glad to hear that. Although you must think differently of me now that I've revealed my many imperfections."

"Not at all." Said Kudamon. "Everyone had issues and insecurities, even those who have accomplished great things. If anything, I respect you even more for deciding to get help."

"I see."

"Well then, if you're ready to head out, then you can talk with my secretary about scheduling a second appointment. Or if you haven't decided whether you want to continue working with me yet, you can always email me any time."

Renamon nodded, and took their leave. On their way out, they unconsciously took out their phone and opened twitter again. They needed to do something about that habit.

One of their notifications was from Takato. He had replied to a tweet, tagging Renamon and Ruki. The original post said:

"Fuck yes, we need more stone-cold bitches like these two, taking no shit and getting shit done. Keep it up, and keep it savage!"

Renamon smiled.


	5. Part 5: Jianliang

Jian squeezed his eyes shut and rubbed his forehead. He was working late again. He stared at his bank of four computer monitors, none of them offering a solution to his latest problem.

He was designing a hunter, a program that behaved somewhat like a digimon, but was fundamentally very different. Digimon had evolved naturally, from the Wild Bunch's initial research project, gaining their characteristics and behaviors from countless generations of adaptation and natural selection. Hunters were created to serve a single function, and they didn't need any unnecessary features like sapience weighing them down.

The hunter that Jian was designing was intended to more efficiently destroy digi-trolls. Lately, the hunters they were sending out were being destroyed too easily, failing to clear infestations in sectors of the digital world before their numbers were eradicated. Not only that, but they were resource intensive. Creating a single hunter put strain on IFO's servers, and they were producing billions of them every day. This new model needed to self-replicate in order to be sustainable.

Jian's real job was supposed to be filling a seat on the board of directors. Instead, he was here, in his dimly-lit office, agonizing over this latest program. Shaking hands, sitting through executive meetings, and overseeing teams of programmers never seemed to be as productive as getting into the code and doing the work himself. He sometimes wondered why he put so much pressure on himself. The people in his employ were certainly capable; some of the brightest minds in the world, in fact. But it wasn't enough to be brilliant, he had decided. None of those other programmers had been to the digital world themselves. They had never seen data packets tumbling through the desert. They had never touched the abstract geometry of a painting-like landscape. They had never stood paralyzed as the hungering chaos of the D-Reaper seeped up from the dark abyss. Jian understood the importance of this work better than anyone else could possibly could. He would not allow himself to make a mistake, not allow himself to deliver anything less than his best; there was simply too much at stake.

And a mistake here would have dire consequences. There was word for self-replicating software: 'virus'. It the parameters of this new hunter weren't set exactly right, if it's ability evolve wasn't regulated with absolute strictness, it could quickly become a much bigger problem than the one it was meant to solve. In a worst-case scenario, it could even become something akin to the next D-Reaper, deleting everything is sight, and reproducing at an uncontrollable rate.

Jian's memories of fighting the D-reaper were still vivid. It was hard to forget how he had felt so infinitesimally small and helpless standing in its presence. Even to SaintGargomon, the fleshy, gelatinous mass was overwhelmingly huge. But the thing that frightened Jian the most on all of his adventures, more than the sight of the D-Reaper, more even than the evolution of Megidramon, was when the effects of the Red Card wore off. He and Terriermon had separated from their combined state, and started falling into the unfathomable dark of the transphotic eddy.

Jian had done his share of falling during his adventures in the digital world, but the eddy was different. Staring down into it as he dropped, he felt as if he would not simply die in the sucking blackness, but continue falling forever, sightless and mute in the emptiness of the void, until his body wasted away, and only his soul was left to scream in eternal solitude.

The premonition had only lasted a moment, but it had stayed in his nightmares for years. Even now, he still felt echoes of it lurking in the shadows. He and Terriermon had never discussed this shared trauma, but Jian never chastised his partner for leaving all the lights on in the house.

Finally, Jian decided that he had reached the limit of his productivity for the day, and closed down all of the documents containing his work in progress. He sighed as he stood up from his desk, then fished in his phone out of his pocket. He texted Terriermon.

 **Jian:**  
Hey, I'm done for the day. Want to go stomp some trolls?

 **Terriermon:**  
Again?

 **Jian:**  
Someone's got to do it. You in?

 **Terriermon:**  
Sure, sure. Be there in 15

When Terriermon arrived, Jian was already standing on the X-Arc platform. The X-Arc was the latest development in a line of technologies allowing transportation between the physical world and digital world. Before this, there had been ships, similar to Grani, which could momentarily expand existing portals in order to move through them. Then, there were ships which could make their own portals. The X-Arc could create doorways with such precision, that a ship was no longer needed to traverse them. One simply stood on the platform, pushed a few buttons, then found themself standing exactly in their desired location within the digital world. Making a return trip was just as easy, as the arc tracked the data signature of anyone it transported, and could make a portal to recall them at a moment's notice. It was expensive to use, both in terms of server resources and power consumption, but the IFO could afford it.

"Ready?" Said Jian.

Terriermon nodded, and Jian tapped the 'evolve' function on his app. Shortly after, he and Gargomon appeared in the digital world.

The sight that greeted them was of a twisted and corrupted landscape. What had once been a scenic canyon, glittering with half-exposed data fragments in the strata of the rock, was now coated in a dark, cancerous sludge.

"Ugh." Said Gargomon, lifting a foot, which trailed thick strands of the sticky slime. "I wish I had brought boots."

"Focus, Gargomon." Said Jian. "They'll start popping up any second."

As if on cue, the walls of the canyon started to ripple and writhe. One by one, slumped, indistinct humanoid figures started to form out of the surface. Jian flicked his thumb behind the edge of his phone case, causing it to do a small flip out of his hand. He caught it again, following through with the motion so that his arm was fully extended out to the side.

"Let's do this."

Gargomon opened fire, hitting a cluster of the creatures with a volley from his gatling arm. Bursts of slime sprayed everywhere as the shots connected, reducing the lumbering forms to nothing.

"Behind you." Said Jian.

Gargomon spun, annihilating another wave of the creatures with a sweep of his arm. Jian looked left and right, judging distances and speeds, ready to point his partner to the closest target. He glanced up.

"Above us!"

One of the trolls had leaped from the canyon wall, and was falling towards them. Gargomon spun and fired from the hip, blasting it apart, and causing a shower of slime to rain down on the pair. Jian shielded his face with his arms, but still got his hair and shoulders coated.

"Ewwwwww ew ew ew." Said Gargomon, trying to wipe the slime off of his ears. "I hope this stuff doesn't stain. This is my only pair of jeans."

"Not now." Said Jian. "They're still coming."

Gargomon aimed at another crowd of trolls, but his guns only produced a series of clicks.

"I'm empty."

"On it."

Jian pressed a button on his phone, activating the reload function, and causing the weapons to spin back to life. That was one of the main advantages of Gargomon's current form; it took less energy to replenish his lasers than Rapidmon or SaintGargomon's missiles. The higher evolutions would have been overkill anyhow. They didn't need to be strong to defeat digi-trolls; it was a challenge of endurance more than anything.

"Jian, they're forming faster."

Jian activated a speed plug-in, and Gargomon's vulcans whirred to double their RPM, buzzing with a near constant stream of projectiles. They used up energy twice as fast this way, but Jian was ready with the reload. He was so used to the timing by now that there was barely a pause in the drumming gunfire when the weapons were depleted.

Battling with a smartphone had a different feel to it than cards and a traditional digivice. While tamers had to choose their cards carefully from a limited deck, and build strategies around optimizing their partner's abilities without draining their energy too quickly, the phone app could access a library of every option card ever created, and kept track of cooldown times automatically. Appropriately enough, Jian thought the experience was more like playing a video game than a card game.

It went on like this, until the sludge creatures stopped reforming. Gargomon wiped sweat and slime from his face.

"Can we go home now? I'm beat."

Jian checked his phone.

"Not yet. I'm still getting a big negative energy spike. Get ready. Something's coming."

The ground started to tremble. In the distance, great boulders tumbled down the walls of the canyon. The toxic residue all around started to draw inward to a single point, a fissure in the ground, which was growing and splitting as it birthed a huge gout of the oily substance. A troll of incredible size took shape before the partners. Gargomon hesitated, marveling at the grotesque mass, then thrust his hands upward, and opened fire.

The blasts sunk harmlessly into the creature's flesh. Gargomon took a step back.

"Jian!"

"Get ready, Gargomon. Galaxy Cannon, activate!"

This was a weapon for which a card didn't even exist. It was developed by the team at IFO, exclusively for their version of the digivice app. It contained an ultimate-level attack, which would normally be too dangerous for a lower-level digimon to channel, but the engineers had designed it to exploit a number of technical loopholes. It still came with its own complications, however.

Gargomon's guns started to glow green. They pulled in particles of energy from the air around them, then flashed once before unleashing a pair of massive, disintegrating beams. The colossal troll looked down at the two gaping holes in its body, then collapsed into a formless puddle.

In a flash, Gargomon reverted to his child-level form, and fell facedown in the muck.

"Terriermon!" Called Jian. "Are you alright?"

"Jian," Terriermon replied, raising his head slightly. "I'm all dizzy. I think I need some juice and a cookie."

Jian sighed with relief. "Sorry buddy. I pushed you too hard. I'll be more careful next time."

"Next time?" Said Terriermon, pushing himself into a sitting position and wiping his eyes. "Jian, you know I'll back you up no matter what, but I'm not sure how much longer I want to keep doing this. What's all this even about anyway? You were always the one who disliked fighting."

"Terriermon, it's important. You don't understand."

"You need a new hobby. Better yet, when was the last time you dated? I forget, was it that girl with the cute scarf, or the quiet boy from Shibuya?"

"Terriermon!" Jian took a moment to collect himself. "I'm sorry, it's just that… you don't know what happens when these things manifest in the physical world."

Terriermon raised an eyebrow. "I didn't think they did."

"That's because we're keeping that information confidential. I'm not even supposed to be telling you. It's one of those things that could cause a lot of panic.

"When a digi-troll materializes in the real world, it reacts with the air somehow. It becomes much more dangerous, and everything it touches turns poisonous. It takes a hazmat team a week to clean up afterwards. So far, the appearances have been isolated, but if one of them were to show up in a city… Our icewalls are strong enough to keep most of them back, but they're not perfect, and the pressure on our systems is getting worse every day."

"You're starting to sound like Yamaki, keeping big secrets like that. Do you want to turn the IFO into the next Hypnos?

"No, it won't be like that. We learned from their mistakes. We're being more responsible."

"Is this the right way to fight them though?" Said Terriermon. "Does it even help? I mean, there are millions of these things. For every one we kill, a thousand new ones pop up somewhere else."

"I know." Said Jian. "I just feel… like I have to do something. Even if it's next to useless, I have to think that every little bit matters. Otherwise, I'd be helpless."

"Moumantai. It'll all work out in the end. You don't have to do it all by yourself, you know."

"Will it work out though? It almost didn't before. One mistake, and we could have all been killed. If we had all sat back and done nothing then, it would have been the end of both worlds.

"The digi-trolls are relentless. They're not sentient. They can't be reasoned with. They're just humanity's worst reactionary impulses, distilled into beings of pure corruption and hatred. How can I just relax now, knowing that we're facing something like that?"

"Mou-" Terriermon stopped when he saw the look on his tamer's face. He turned his eyes down, ashamed. After a moment, he stood up.

"You know what, okay. Let's keep fighting."

"Are you sure?" Said Jian. "You look like you've had enough for today."

"Not a chance." Said Terriermon. "We'll keep going until our fists are sore and our knees are shaking. And who knows? If we can find a few more of those big guys to kill, it might have more of an impact than we think. But you have to promise me that once we're done, you'll take a break for a while."

"Okay, it's a deal." Said Jian.

"And let's not hold back this time." Said Terriermon. "Give me everything you've got."

"You bet."

Jian held up his phone, but there was no button to tap for this next part, no piece of code which could execute this function. There was just two partners, their determination, and the connection between them.

" _MATRIX EVOLUTION!_ "


	6. Part 6: Takato

Takato stared at his contact list. He sighed.

He never knew what to say in these conversations. They were always a little awkward, but he didn't want to ignore his friend. He pressed the call button.

The phone rang twice, then:

"Hello, Juri?"

"Takato!" Juri's voice was as bright and cheerful as ever. "Hey! It's good to hear from you."

Takato was pretty sure that he and Juri had both liked each other, back in the day. He had even confessed his feelings to her, although it had turned out he was talking to an evil clone at the time. They might have gotten together, but it had never been the right time. After defeating the D-Reaper, Takato was consumed with trying to reunite everyone with their digimon partners. Then, after the second trip to the digital world, Juri's family moved, and they rarely ever got to see each other.

"How's Culumon doing?" Said Takato. "Still up to their usual antics?"

"Haha, yep."

"Gosh, it's been a while since we've talked." said Takato, "I got a chance to meet everyone at the con. I don't know if you caught the stream of our panel, but it seems like they're doing really well. We were all thinking of you."

"That's great! I didn't watch the stream though, unfortunately. You know how I feel about all that."

"Yeah…" Takato was silent for a moment.

"I'm sorry that I didn't go to see everyone." Said Juri. "It must seem like I'm the odd one out."

"No, don't worry about it. I mean, the con was started to celebrate the defeat of the D-Reaper, and we all know what that time was like for you. No one blames you for staying away from it all."

There was a long pause. Takato started to wonder if the call had dropped, but Juri spoke again.

"I guess I never told you what it was like, though. Inside the Kernel, I mean."

"Hey, if you don't want to, that's okay. I totally understand." Said Takato.

"No, it's alright. I want to talk about it."

"Then I'm all ears."

"It was… It was like being stuck inside my own head with the worst despair imaginable."

Takato stayed silent, waiting for her to continue.

"I kept remembering all the awful things I had done in my life; all the times I had done something stupid, or embarrassing, or ungrateful. I kept flashing back to Leomon's death… and my mother's."

"Juri, that's awful." Said Takato. "I'm so sorry."

"I kept having the thought that I only ever caused problems and made things worse. Like If I had never been born, none of all that bad stuff would have happened, and everyone would be happy. I know now that that was just the result of the D-Reaper feeding off my negative emotions, but at the time, it seemed like the absolute truth."

"I can't imagine what it must have been like." Said Takato. "And you were stuck in there for over a week. It must have seemed like an eternity. If I had been able to save you sooner- If I hadn't run away when I did…"

"Don't say that." Said Juri. "You made the right decision; to pull out of a losing fight and come back better prepared. I don't blame you for anything that happened. I forgave Impmon, and I even forgave myself, so I certainly don't hold anything against you."

"Oh man, why are you the one reassuring me?" Said Takato. "I think I messed up this conversation somewhere along the line."

Juri laughed. "Don't worry about it. I'm doing okay, really. I mean, there's always going to be a part of me that still hurts from those memories. Some days, it hurts worse than others, but I decided a long time ago that I was going to let the past be the past. I promised myself I would keep my chin up, and keep looking ahead."

Takato chuckled.

"What's so funny?"

"I always thought I was the brave one in the group, but you've got me beaten, hands down. I should turn over my digivice right now."

"You mean you don't have the app yet?"

"Well," said Takato, "it's not as if Guilmon and I are battling wild digimon anymore, so I don't really need an app. Although I did need to use a blue card so that MegaloGrowmon could fly us home after the con. Anyway, the app just seems too complicated. I'll take the stylish, classic option any day."

"'Stylish'? You know those things are basically just toys, right? I mean, even those trading cards you use for power-ups are from a game for kids. In fact, now that I think about it, it seems like an awfully frivolous thing to to rely on for saving the world."

"Hey!" Said Takato. I would take offense to that, if you didn't actually make a really good point."

"Maybe the digivices take that shape because of the feelings you associate with the card game." Said Juri. "Emotions are just another type of data after all. I mean, Impmon was able to evolve after his partner gave him a toy ray gun, right? Maybe toys are the best medium for connecting us with digimon because we love them so much. We can put all of our feelings into them, and then send that energy to our partners."

"That's a pretty liberal definition of 'data' you have there." Said Takato. "But yeah, I think I know what you mean. And kids love their phones now, so I guess that's what works for them."

"Yeah."

There was an awkward pause.

"Um, so," said Takato, "I had a really great time catching up with everyone, so I was thinking of trying to do something like that again soon. I mean, not with everyone, right away. It's pretty much impossible to get seven adults and seven digimon in the same room at the same time. You know how it is with scheduling. Ruki, Renamon, and Jian are always really busy, and Ryo and Cyberdramon are out of the country, but maybe we could work out something with a few of the others."

"Yeah, I'd really love that." Said Juri. "Ooh, I can't wait to see Guilmon again. Is he still as cute as he's always been?"

"He actually got kinda fat." Said Takato. "All that bread, you know?"

"Aah! I have to see him now! I wanna squish his chubby face!"

"Alright, calm down, you big weirdo. I'll be in touch then, okay? And I'll tell Guilmon you said 'hi'."

"Sounds good." Said Juri. "I'll talk to you soon then."

"Bye, Juri."

"Bye!"


	7. Part 7: Guilmon

Guilmon pulled the tray of bread rolls out of the oven, breathing in the rich aroma, and set them out to cool. He checked on the next batch, which which was nearly done proving. Guilmon loved his job. He lived the sifting, and the kneading, and the shaping, and the icing. He loved the feel of flour coating his paws, and the way his white apron and hat complimented the color of his scales. He loved talking to the customers, and hearing their stories. He especially loved eating all the leftovers at the end of the day. It felt like by this point, there must have been a little bit of yeast that found its way into his soul.

Suddenly, Guilmon stopped in his tracks. His pupils shrunk to pinpoints, and a low growl rent its way from deep in his throat.

"Guilmon, could you help at the register?" Called a voice from the front of the store.

And just like that, guilmon was back to normal. "Coming, Mom!" He said.

"Ah, there you are." Said Yoshie, Takato's mother. "The line's getting a little long, could you open the second register? Takehiro is out picking up a shipment of ingredients."

Guilmon gestured for Yoshie to lean in close, then he said, in a low voice, "Mom, something's going to realize soon. A big one, I think. I felt it just now."

Yoshie nodded. "Do you want to make the announcement, then?"

"Okay." Guilmon stood up to his full height. "Attention, everyone. There's going to be a digimon appearing soon. Please stay inside for a few minutes until we know whether it's safe."

The crowd in the store began to murmur. A few took out their phones to scan for unusual data signatures.

Guilmon handed his hat and apron to Yoshie.

"I'm going to go check on things." He said.

"Don't do anything dangerous. Takato's not here to help you. If you want, I can text him."

"It's okay, I'll stay out of it."

Guilmon, ran out into the street, where he could already hear the sound of sirens, as well as a low buzzing coming from an unknown source. In seconds, the area was covered in thick fog. In minutes, the police had quarantined the streets, and were redirecting traffic. Guilmon stayed back and watched. Two children walked into the fog, both girls. One, a teenager, probably fifteen or sixteen, wore a knee-length red coat and fingerless gloves. The other, who couldn't have been older than seven or eight, wore a puffy pink jacket and fleece hat with a pom-pom on top. Octomon, an octopus-like digimon with an ink gun and cutlass crawled alongside the older girl, but the younger was unaccompanied, as far as Guilmon could see.

Then, the wild digimon appeared. Guilmon was right, it was big. Tankmon, a cybernetic mashup of a dinosaur and an armored tank, loomed in the middle of the street. Their rumbling engine caused the ground to vibrate, and their glowing eyes piced the haze.

A uniformed man with a bullhorn stepped forward.

"Welcome to Japan." He said. "I ask that you not take any hostile actions, and that you de-evolve to your child-level form, if you are able. If you came here by accident, then please remain calm. We will do everything we can to return-"

Tankmon pointed an arm cannon at the man. He flinched back, but the teenager drew her phone in a flash, and Octomon leaped into the line of fire. Tankmon's cannon thundered as it discharged a massive projectile, but the shot burst harmlessly against the shield which had appeared in Octomon's grasp.

The teenager tapped her phone's screen, and Octomon's speed increased. With blurring movements, they aimed their gun and fired twice, sending twin ink splats into the the Tankmon's eyes. Then, they charged the armored beast, their writhing tentacles covering a surprising amount of ground. They leaped at tankmon, and started a grapple, taking advantage of their foe's momentary blindness, and pinning their arms to their sides.

The teenager nodded to the child beside her. "We've got them. It's all you now."

The younger girl smiled, and took her phone out of her pocket. It had a bright pink case, and seemed much too big for the child's hands.

"Kuwagamon," she said, "let's end this. Meteor Claw, activate."

The ambient buzzing grew louder, and increased in pitch. Guilmon looked up, suddenly aware of its source. A giant, red, beetle-like digimon shot down from the sky, one of their three-pronged claws glowing with energy. They crashed into tankmon, sending out a shockwave that rippled through the digital field, and leaving nothing more of the armored beast than a cloud of data particles.

Guilmon sighed with relief, then turned back to the store. He didn't know a lot about why digimon appeared, or why they sometimes only wanted to fight. Supposedly, the upper layers of the digital world had changed a lot since he had been there, and fighting between digimon was rarely permitted. There must be some people who simply didn't want to grow beyond their programming, and seek a greater purpose in life.

He didn't know why digimon appeared less frequently either. If Jianliang was right about the size of the digital world, then it seemed like there should be digimon appearing on every square inch of the physical one. When Guilmon had asked Jian about it, he had said something about the barrier between worlds being weaker around the turn of the century, due to the collective unconscious anxiety about increasing human connectivity and rapidly emerging technology. Whatever that meant.

Guilmon slipped back into the store. A few people jumped at the movement, but relaxed when they saw him.

"All clear." He said. "Everything's fine!"

The tension in the room dispersed, and everyone went back to going about their business.

Guilmon went back to the kitchen. His heart was still pounding. He still felt the animalistic surge of adrenaline, urging him to battle. He thought back to the the cacophonous crash as Kuwagamon's attack connected, the sheer energy and chaos of the moment. He wanted that; wanted to pound, and crush, and tear, and destroy. He wanted it so badly that he could barely stand still.

He didn't like that feeling. It reminded him of Megidramon; that creature he had become, which had almost destroyed the digital world by its mere presence alone. When he had evolved to that corrupted ultimate form, he could feel nothing but hot, poisonous anger; a searing fury that demanded to be quenched in blood and death. Guilmon wondered if there was still some small part of that beast inside him, waiting to be released.

He pulled the bread dough out of the proving drawer, and began to knead it.

He was Guilmon. He liked to make bread. And eat bread. He liked to hang out with Takato, and to tell jokes with Terriermon, and to fool around with his boyfriends, and to make people smile. He was also Dukemon, the heroic knight who would fight to the death to defend the innocent, and never stop in his quest for justice.

Guilmon's heartbeat slowed. His pupils slowly dilated. He let the feeling pass as he lost himself in the repetitive rhythm of his work.

The store wasn't very busy that evening, so Guilmon decided to go home early. His and Takato's apartment was only a few blocks away.

"Takato!" He said, as he burst through the door. "I missed you."

Takato was washing dishes in the kitchen sink, but Guimon ran over to hug him anyway.

"Woah! Hey buddy." Said Takato, trying not to drop a wet plate as his friend collided with him. "How's it going? You were near the realization today, right? I could see the digital field from here."

"I'm fine." Said Guilmon. "Some girls and their digimon took care of it. It's a good thing there are so many tamers in the world these days. It seems like it was just us way back when."

"Do you ever miss it?" Said Takato. "The old days?"

"Nope." Said Guilmon. "We had fun back then, but I like what I do now."

"Yeah." Said Takato. He paused. "I dunno. I had a conversation with Juri today, and we talked about looking forward and moving on, and I kinda feel like- like I haven't."

"You talked to Juri? How's she doing?"

"She's fine. She says hi. And that, um, she wants to squish your chubby face?"

"Hmmmm." Said Guilmon. "Okay, but only if I get to squish hers back."

"Wow, you're weird sometimes. Anyway, what I mean is, Ruki and Jian and everyone are doing important things with their lives, and I just haven't figured it all out like they have. Sometimes, I feel like I'm only good at one thing. Granted, that one thing is saving the world, and I'm sure not going to complain about that, but I don't know what to do with myself now that it's been saved. I mean, I could always help out around the bakery, but I don't love it like you do. It's not what I want to be doing forever."

"Well," said Guilmon, "I like the work because I like making people happy. People love fresh baked bread, and when I make something that people love, it feels really special. Maybe you just need to find out how you can do the same thing in your own way."

"That's a nice idea." Said Takato. "But what do I know how to make? I'm no artist or anything. My Photoshop skills are novice at best, and honestly, I'm a pretty mediocre YouTuber."

"Hmmm." Guilmon put a claw to his chin in concentration, then his eyes went wide.

"Taaakaaaatoooo."

"Yeah, what?"

"Takato. Takato. TAKATO!"

"What is it? All I'm hearing is my own name."

"Takato!" Guilmon grabbed his friend by the wrists, and pulled him down so that they were face-to-face."

"Don't you get it, Takato? You created me!"

"What are you saying? That I should make another Guilmon?"

"Lots and lots of me. So many siblings, Takato. And not just ones like me; anything you can think of! Think of how many kids could get a digimon partner of their very own, created just for them!"

"Do you think it would even work?" Said Takato. "We would need the digignomes' help. If they don't assemble the data packets, then it's impossible."

"It's worth a try." Said Guilmon. "And your drawing skills have gotten better. You're really good!"

"Better than my elementary-school self, maybe." Said Takato. "I'm no professional or anything."

"You're good." Guilmon insisted. "You're really creative, and you practiced a lot. I know you can make something – someone – great."

"I don't know." Said Takato. "Doesn't it seem like we're taking this whole 'creating life' thing a little lightly? I mean, if I do make a new digimon, I don't know what their personality is going to be like, or if they'll do anything dangerous. When you were first created, I had to teach you everything. It was a lot.

"And… and what if I screw up somehow. If I make them somehow wrong. Like if they won't listen to reason, or become too powerful and start destroying things…"

"I don't think it works like that." Said Guilmon. "There aren't digimon who start off good or bad. It's all about what they learn and who they become.

"How about this; you can draw a digimon tonight, and come up with all the stats, then you can decide what to do with it tomorrow."

"I'll… think about it." Said Takato.

Hours later, Guilmon peeked into Takato's room, and saw his partner leaned over his desk, markers and brush pens strewn across its surface. Guilmon quietly closed the door, excited to meet the new creation.


	8. Part 8: Ruki

"You matrix evolved!? Oh man, what was it like? You have to tell me everything about it. Tellme tellme tellme!"

Ruki chuckled. Terriermon could be so fucking cute sometimes. She could imagine what he must have looked like, bouncing up and down in the recording studio.

Ruki sat on a cushion in her house, earbuds in, a tablet in front of her with an online game of shogi open. Her opponent had driven her into a tight spot, but she was already planning several moves head. She could turn things around in a few turns if her opponent let their guard down.

Work had been stressful lately. She knew she and her associates were close to a breakthrough on the digimon IP case, but the company who owned the rights were stubbornly holding on, delaying proceedings for as long as they could. She wished she could just shut them down with one big, perfectly worded legal tirade, but it wasn't that simple. She needed to have more patience than that.

Her opponent in the shogi game finally made their move. Perfect. In two moves, she could spring her trap, and capture her opponent's rook, opening the board for her own pieces to move more freely.

It was good that she could take this time to unwind a little. Even having just taken a couple of days off to attend the con, she was already falling behind on her work. Part of her wanted to be back in her office, poring over pages of legalese, but overworking wouldn't do her any favors in the long run.

Ruki noticed her partner's presence in the room. She removed an earbud.

"Renamon."

"Ruki."

Renamon appeared behind her.

"Did you want something?" Ruki said.

"I-" they stopped. "How is your game going?"

"You know I won't lose."

Renamon nodded. "It seems unusual for someone your age to play this. Are you sure you would not prefer a more contemporary form of entertainment?"

"What, like a video game or something?" Said Ruki. "I don't want to sink too many hours into something like that right now. I've got more important things to worry about. Plus, games can be so repetitive. I just get bored eventually. This lets me clear my head, and it's enough of a challenge to keep me interested. Plus," her gaze flitted back to her partner, "I have a soft spot for the traditional aesthetic."

"I see." Renamon turned to leave, but Ruki spun on her seat to face them, and removed her other earbud.

"Hey," she said, "what were you really going to ask me?"

Renamon said nothing.

"Is everything okay?"

Renamon remained silent, but walked over to their partner and sat down.

"Would you like to hold hands?" They said.

"Must be a special occasion." Said Ruki, as she reached out to take Renamon's offered paw.

"We hold hands all the time."

"I know." Said Ruki. "It was something about the way you asked. So am I right?"

"In a sense." Said Renamon. They took a moment to steady their nerves. "I would like to make the nature of our relationship known publicly."

"Are you sure?" Asked Ruki. "I mean, I'm all for it, but we both know that people are going to get the wrong idea about us. You would really be okay with that?"

Renamon squeezed their partner's hand reassuringly. "People already have the wrong idea." They said. "At least the truth will be out there for the people who care about it."

"I think this will be good for us." Said Ruki. "Not having to hold anything back like we've been doing. It already feels a bit freeing, you know?"

"Yes." Said Renamon. "I do."

"I'm glad". Said Ruki.

"Yes."

"I love you."

"You too."

Ruki leaned over and rested her head against her partner's shoulder. Renamon wrapped their tail around her waist. They both sat there, taking comfort in each other's presence.

"Fuck," said Ruki, "we're going to make such an awesome power-couple. People will think of our faces when they think of the fight for digimon marriage rights."

"Are you slyly implying that you want to marry me?" Renamon teased.

Ruki sat up, blushing.

"Hey! I only meant it because we're lawyers, and our organization represents-" She stopped. Then she smiled.

"Renamon... when we first met, I was just a bratty, selfish, whiny kid, who didn't want anything to do with anyone. I was so awful, and you stayed with me anyway. You kept being my friend. That really meant a lot to me, even though I would have never admitted it. And as we grew up together, and learned from one another, and got closer to each other, it meant even more. When we were finally reunited, after fate split us up, I promised myself I would never be apart from you again. So, help me keep that promise? Will you…?"

"Ruki, I-" Then Renamon chuckled. "Hm. You didn't plan this at all, did you?"

Ruki laughed. "Nope, I made up my mind just now. I'm totally winging it."

"Reckless, as always." Said Renamon. "But I'm glad. I wanted to ask you the same question for some time, but I could never find the right words."

"You don't have to say anything." Ruki said. "I know."

"Nevertheless," said Renamon, "I would like to try saying it anyway.

"Shortly after we first met, you asked me – rather innocently – whether I was a boy or a girl."

"Oh, geez, that's awkward." Said Ruki. "I don't even remember that."

"I did not know how to answer," said Renamon, "so I stayed silent. To which you responded, 'Whatever. I don't care, as long as you can fight.' It may have seemed cruel to anyone else, but I was relieved. You let me know that I would not have to be anyone other than myself for you. At the time, it was everything I needed to hear. I may not have shown it, but I was lost and afraid, in a world that was so new and strange to me. You gave me a purpose, and praised my strength. I wanted nothing more than to be worthy of that.

"Eventually though, we both came to question that purpose. We realized that fighting and gaining strength for its own sake was wrong. But then, we found a new purpose; to be strong for each other, and to care for each other. And I have never stopped caring. I am so happy I have had the chance to know the person you've become, and the person you've helped me become."

"Renamon…"

"I love you, Ruki. I want us to be together forever. Even when your human body is too old and frail to continue, you can cast it off and become Sakuyamon with me. All of our memories, our feelings, our data, will exist far beyond any human lifetime."

"Could we really do that? Said Ruki. "We've never maintained our combined form for that long. Would it be possible?"

"As long as we both love each other, anything is possible."

Ruki let go of Renamon's paw, then pulled them into an embrace.

"Then I think", she whispered, "that 'forever' sounds about right."

END


	9. Part 2 (Extra): Drinking Contest

"Aww man, I thought I had you."

Takato and Hirokazu had cleared off a corner of the table, and had just finished their second round of the Digimon card game.

"That's what you get for being overconfident." Said Hirokazu, as he reshuffled his deck. "Want to go again?"

"Okay, but I'm not gonna lose this time." Said Takato.

"You're definitely going to lose." Said Hirokazu.

Ryo glanced at Ruki.

"It's kind of a shame that we never ended up getting a rematch." He said. "Our first battle in the tournament was pretty good. Too bad there was never a second."

"You still care about that?" Said Ruki. "It was eighteen years ago. I don't even remember how it went down."

"Oh, really?" Said Ryo. "I always got the sense that you wanted to settle the score. You sure you don't want a rematch?"

"Oh, please." Said Ruki. "You think I would gain any satisfaction from beating you at a kids' game? That would be kind of pathetic."

"Come on, admit it. You can't be happy knowing that you'll always be second best. You would love to kick my ass right now."

"Fine, if you insist." Said Ruki. "But we're going to settle this like adults."

"Oh? What do you mean by that?" Said Ryo.

Ruki called over a server.

"Bring me a bottle of whiskey and two shot glasses."

"You can't be serious." Said Ryo. "Don't you have to catch a flight tomorrow? And I've got, like, fifty pounds on you. You're digging your own grave."

"If you're afraid of being beaten by a girl, you can back out." Said Ruki. "I'll understand."

"You wish."

The server arrived with the bottle, and Ruki poured two shots.

"Cheers." She said, and downed her glass, straight-faced. Ryo followed suit. Ruki started pouring again.

"You don't have to be in such a rush." Said Ryo. "Let's wait for the first one to kick in. It's dangerous to drink too fast, you know."

Ruki was about to retort, but Renamon placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Ruki." They said.

"Fine." Said Ruki. "You can take all the time you need. I'll still win."

Three drinks later, Ruki was starting to feel dizzy and flushed. Still, she refused to lose focus as she poured the next round.

"Hey," she said, "there's one thing that never made sense to me." She was speaking a little more deliberately than usual, to avoid slurring even slightly.

"After Dobermon did his whole self-sacrificing light show, and we all evolved to ultimate in order to fight the D-Reaper, you just kinda… showed up – as Justimon. Like, how did that even happen? I thought it was just me, Henry, and Takato who were near enough to Dobermon for the holy beasts' gift to take effect. Then you just appeared out of the sky like it was no big deal."

She downed her fifth drink.

"Like, what the heck? I don't get it. Where did you even come from? Why did you matrix evolve? How did you even know what was going on?"

Ryo tilted back his own glass, then laughed.

"Oh man, it was really embarrassing, actually."

"What do you mean 'embarrassing'?" Said Ruki. "I thought it was all cool poses and refreshing style with Justimon."

"That was after I spent like, ten minutes freaking out." Said Ryo. "Cyberdramon was flying us to go fight the D-Reaper, and then we saw these red and blue lights in the sky. Next thing we know, our bodies are both glowing, and then Cyberdramon's not carrying me anymore. We had formed Justimon, but we were totally disoriented and confused. We were sharing a body that neither of us had ever been in before, and we were hurtling through the air at a ridiculous speed. We crashed into a skyscraper, and then flopped on the pavement like a fish. We were both totally panicking, and we had to get our cool back before we could go fight."

Ruki's face broke into a smile, and she laughed.

"Oh wow, really? That's hilarious. When we saw you, you were acting like a total superstar. I can't believe you were pratfalling around like an idiot while we were fighting for our lives."

Ryo broke into a giggling fit, clearly also affected by the alcohol.

"Yeah, it was really stupid." He said. "After we picked ourselves up off the sidewalk, my first thought was whether we could still make a cool entrance. I was a real dumbass."

"Heh. I'll say." Said Ruki. She poured the next round. The bottle was getting close to empty.

"Are you sure you haven't had enough?" Said Ryo. "I was just teasing you earlier. You don't have to prove anything. I mean, I don't really think you're still mad that I beat you in a card game."

"It's not that you beat me." Said Ruki. "It's that you disappeared after." She drank the next shot. It was getting hard to keep her vision from blurring. She felt a little like she was floating; not entirely connected to her body.

"What do you mean?" Said Ryo.

"After the tournament, I spent months thinking about our next match." Said Ruki. "I had never met someone on my level before, much less someone who could beat me. It was really exciting, actually. I got a bunch of new cards, and reworked my strategy over and over, so that I would win the next one for sure."

"Sounds like you were pretty obsessed." Ryo stared at his drink, hesitated, then swallowed it. "Are you sure you weren't in love with me?"

"Idiot. Of course not." Said Ruki. "I wanted to be friends. I thought that no one could understand me. But someone strong like you would know what it was like."

"What what was what like?" Said Ryo, slurring a little.

"Being lonely." Said Ruki. "I wasn't really close with anyone. Not my classmates, not my parents. I tried to deal with it be being stronger; like if I could focus on being the best at something, then I could stop being affected by my feelings. I thought someone strong would be able to keep it all inside.

"I thought you must be like that too. I thought if I beat you in our next match, then you would realize I was like you, and we could get to know each other. But you didn't even show up. I won the tournament because there was no one else there who could come close to me. It was such a fucking disappointment."

Ruki looked down at nothing in particular.

"Wow, I was a pretty depressing kid."

Ryo said nothing. He picked up the bottle, and poured out the last of its contents into the waiting glasses. He and Ruki drank in silence.

"Renamon." Said Ruki, weakly. "Everything's spinning." She slumped towards her partner, and Renamon gently held her up. Ryo leaned back in his chair, arms slack at his sides, eyes unfocused.

"Ugh. I think I've had enough." He said.

"We should get going." Said Renamon. "Everyone, thank you. It has been a lovely evening."

They helped their partner to her feet, and slowly guided them towards the exit.

As the two made their way back to the hotel, Ruki holding on to her partner for support, Renamon softly spoke.

"For someone who wanted to be strong, you seemed to take very little pleasure in it back then."

"Mhmm." Said Ruki.

"And you said that only someone strong could understand you." Said Renamon.

"Yeah."

"When we met," said Renamon, "is that why you said you wanted a strong digimon as a partner? So that you wouldn't be alone?"

Ruki was silent for a long moment.

"I guess so." She said.

Renamon squeezed their partner a little closer.

"I'm glad you're my friend." They said.

"Me too."


End file.
